Newsletter. Your Municipal Communication Resource. Connecting Your Town to Your Residents. Inside This Issue. gpa

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1 gpa VOLUME 6, ISSUE 1 Newsletter JANUARY 2019 Trustees Bob Duthaler Pres Dave Garb VP 2019 Dave Ambrosy Recording Sec Linda Besink Treasurer Anthony Pagliuco Corresponding Sec Jeff Arban Lee Beckerman Stephanie Gibbons Darryl Love Inside This Issue Closed Captioning Volunteers Bits & Bites Committees Corner pg2 pg3 pg4 pg5 General Meeting Schedule 2019 Feb. 27 Princeton Presentation- TelVue Mar. 27- Piscataway Presentation- Toner Cable Apr. 24- Oradell Presentation- Tightrope May 22- New Brunswick JAG Reception, Welcome expo special guests Jun.12- West Milford No Vendor Presentation Sept. 25- Varto Technologies in East Rutherford Presentation-by Varto Oct. 30- TBD Presentation- TBD Dec. 4- Edison Presentation: TBD Your Municipal Communication Resource 2019 The Year of the JAG Although the Chinese Zodiac Calendar says it s the Year of the Pig, if you are part of local access television or any form of communication with your community then you should know it s the Year of the JAG. Why JAG you may ask? Let me break it down for you. There is a major shift in the landscape underway at the Federal level in which the FCC is looking at Cable Franchises and Fees paid to local governments, just like the ones that fund the stations you may be operating or a part of. In addition, there is a case being heard in the Supreme Court on Access Television and some of our very core rights are being challenged. Since it s the Year of the JAG, the legislative committee is following these items and more, informing the Executive Board who has already taken action in certain situations and informing our members as well. But, to be a successful year for JAG we need members like you to step up and get involved. Join the legislative committee and help preserve access television. Are you keeping up to date on the latest technology impacting our ability to produce content, present this content to the community and archive it as well. Do you understand the terms 4K, 5G, Smart City, Rights of Way, OTT and others? Since it s the Year of the JAG, the conference committee is working hard to introduce these terms to you, update you on the paradigm shift in technology and legislation with informative conference sessions, present you with a hands on experience with the latest equipment from top manufacturers serving our industry and much more. Plus offering all this to you in a twoday experience with non-stop learning and networking in an entertaining atmosphere. Since it s the Year of the JAG we need members like you to register for the conference and bring others associated with your station or productions with you! Do not let another year go by and pass up on the Eastern Video Expo and Conference, keep access television growing strong! You have heard the term stronger in numbers right! Well this goes for any organization like JAG. We need to increase our membership enrollment and involvement. Do you know of any municipalities out there looking to get an access station going? Do you know of any local producers or talent that want to get exposure on a larger scale? Are you interested in promoting the idea of local television and communication to others throughout our state? Since it s the Year of the JAG we need members like you to join the Membership Committee, help grow our organization, bring in new full members, organizational members and individual membership as well. Help grow the organization that has given so much to you! Now that you know it s the Year of the JAG, what are you going to do about it? How are you going to get involved? What can you do to secure the future of access television and our goals at JAG? Without your involvement it won t be the Year of the JAG, instead it will be the Year of the Lame Duck. Your Decide.choose wisely. Bob Duthaler President, Jersey Access Group Connecting Your Town to Your Residents

2 Closed Captioning is Affordable and for Everyone! By Jesse Lerman, President and CEO, TelVue Corporation Feature Closed Captioning for video programming was first invented to help the deaf and hard of hearing more fully participate in and enjoy television broadcasts. Over time, laws were enacted that made closed captioning mandatory for nearly all commercial broadcasts and more recently, many government and non-commercial broadcasters. Depending on a broadcaster s size and scope, various FCC, ADA, and Federal laws and regulations may apply. In the past, adding closed captioning to programs was prohibitively expensive for small broadcasters. But fortunately, technology has come to the rescue. Modern Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Speech-To-Text engines are now remarkably good at automatically captioning programming and are far more affordable than traditional, human-based captioning. TelVue has been integrating the latest closed captioning technology into many of its products and services. With TelVue Connect s captioning service, powered by IBM Watson Artificial Intelligence, PEG broadcasters can easily and affordably caption any video program with a click of the mouse. The resulting captioned files can be broadcast on cable and streamed on the Internet and Over-The-Top (OTT) complete with closed captioning, and are compatible with just about any playback or streaming platform. TelVue Connect s automatic closed captioning service supports Custom Language Modeling that allows users to build dictionaries of uniques words and phrases to improve caption accuracy. For example, by simply listing the names of your council members, you can improve the captioning accuracy of your town meetings. It s obvious how captioning helps the deaf and hard of hearing, but captioning also opens the door for new ways for everyone to interact with video. Captions can make programming fully searchable for content discovery and automatic indexing. This allows you to type in the name of a councilperson to get a list of all the videos in which this person appears and when they are speaking. TelVue is actively developing such capabilities. Meanwhile AI is already taking search and discovery to the next level through the automatic detection of objects and people within the video frames themselves. Now is a great time for PEGs to start captioning their programming and make it more accessible. TelVue is already offering automatic captioning for broadcast and streaming files. At the recent 2019 ACM West Conference, TelVue demonstrated live captioning integrated directly in the HyperCaster AIO broadcast server. We hope to see you at the upcoming February JAG Meeting where will discuss captioning and demo our latest innovations including live captioning, OTT apps on Amazon Fire TV, and NDI playback support. Page 2

3 Committees Rich Desimone, Managing Director All committees have been asked to met and elect a chair and secretary and to provide a list of members. External Relations Committee has elected Geoffrey Belinfante Chair and discussed their action items. Conferenc Committee will meet Mar. 4, Apr. 1,Apr. 15, Apr. 29, May 6, and May 13. JAG Awards Committees has just begun its work for Submissions will open shortly. Legislative Committee has elected Dave Garb Chair and has many issues ahead and needs your help. Production and Membershp have new chairs Volunteerism Executive 2019 Production 2019 Membership 2019 Bob Duthaler, President 2020 Lee Beckerman (Chair) Darryl Love/ Bruce Goldsmith (Co-Chairs) Dave Garb, President-2019 TBD: (Secretary) Linda Besink: (Secretary) Data Management Linda Besink, Treasurer-2020 Dave Ambrosy: Producer Bob Duthaler: List Serve Dave Ambrosy, Secretary-2019 Nick Besink: George Bumiller: Outreach Anthony Pagliuco, Corresponding Sec Brian Belzer: Editor/Camera Stephanie Gibbons: Stephanie Gibbons, Trustee 2020 Anthony Pagliuco: Editor/Camera Dave Garb Jeff Arban, Trustee 2019 Peter Neman Lee Beckerman, Trustee 2020 Dave Grab JAG Awards 2019 Darryl Love, Trustee 2019 Geoffrey Belinfante, External Relations Rich Desimone: Managing Director Action Plan Page 3 Bob Duthaler (Chair): various members: (Secretary) David Bandfield (Vice-Chair) Dave Garb Finance 2019 Legislation 2019 Lee Beckerman Linda Besink: (Chair) Dave Grab (Chair): Darryl Love TBD: (Secretary) Linda Besink: (Secretary) Amanda Olsen Bob Duthaler: Budget Review Ada Erik: NJ Legislation Bob Nicholson Dave Garb Nick Besink Dave Ambrosy Outside Contract: Bookkeeper Dave Bandfield Conference 2019 Stephanie Gibbons: (Co-chair) Registration, Municipal Outreach Cindy Hahn: (Co-chair) Program, Marketing, Newsletter various members: (Secretary) Outside Contract: CPA Linda Besink: Treasurer, Registration External Relations 2019 Sub Committee Marketing 2019 Geoffrey Belinfante: Workshops/Vendors Geoffrey Belinfante (Chair) OPEN: Chair J Robertson: Affinity Lunch & topics TBD (Secretary) TBD: (Secretary) Bob Duthaler: Marketing Stephanie Gibbons: Members Bob Duthaler: JAG Web Site Anthony Pagliuco: P&D, Tec Support Bob Duthaler: NJLOM Join Session, JAG Cindy Hahn: JAG Newsletter, Jeff Arban: Power, Tec Support Session, Booth Staffing and rooms Writer/Editor Cindy Hahn: Writer/Editor Mary Foti: Video Marketing George Burmiller Rich Desimone: Managing Director Conference Coordinator Vivian Gaspar Outside Contract: Web Site, Program, Fliers Mariam Rosenberg Rich Desimone: Managing Director Outside Contract: Social Media JAG Newsletter Editor Dave Garb Outside Contract: Social Media-TBA Outside Contract: Videographer Bruce Goldsmith Rich Desimone: Managing Director Rep. to NJLOM and NATOA

4 Bits & Bytes Feb. 27, 12 noon Princeton General Meeting Introduction of the budget 2019 JAG Legislative Awards Nominations Presentation by Jesse Lerman, TelVue Mar. 4, 2pm -4pm Conference Committee meeting Building Marketing Partners Choosing workshops Mar. 13, 12noon Executive Board meeting NJLM Sessions Mar. 27, 12 noon Piscataway General Meeting Presentation by Jim Lien, Toner Cable Apr. 1, 2pm -4pm Conference Committee meeting Affinity Topics EARLY BIRD ENDS AT 12 MIDNIGHT MAR 31, Start going through your work from 2018 and select your best to be a part of the best awards contest and show for local access in our area! May 23, 2019, Hyatt Regency, New Brunswick Election Results for JAG Officers Bob Duthaler President Dave Garb Vice President Linda Besink Treasurer Dave Ambrosy Secretary Anthony Pagliuco Corresponding Secretary Organizational Members Page 4

5 COMMITTEES CORNER EXTERNAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE: Geoffrey Belinfante, Chair-Re-elected This month I would like to welcome the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission to the JAG family. In my capacity as External relations director I had the pleasure of meeting with Steve Gorleick and Charles Riccardi recently to discuss their organization might work with JAG members to help promote film and TV production in New Jersey. The new governor, Phil Murphy has restored some of the tax incentives that appeal to production companies in an effort to bring back more production to the garden state and the commission is very anxious to explore ways in which our members can help. Initially, we have identified two areas of interest. Since we all live and work throughout the state and presumably shoot video on desirable locations, they would like to consider each of our members as possible location consultants to out of town producers who may need help identifying appropriate locations for their productions. In addition, many of our member stations have young associates who have knowledge of the area and who would enjoy the opportunity to work as a production assistant for visiting production companies. To help JAG, they have also agreed promote our conference to their list and they will have a booth at the conference. If you have any other ideas as to how we can help the Commission, please let me know. Geoffrey Belinfante at geoffbel512@gmail.com. FINANCE COMMITTEE: Linda Besink, Chair JAG thanks all who have already sent in their membership dues for Linda Besink will personally let you know when your PO or check is in-hand, and will follow up with any issues regarding your payment process. If you still have not seen a 2019 invoice from JAG, please Linda asap at lbesink@gmail.com and it will be resent to you immediately. The Finance Committee also welcomes any JAG member who would like to serve. The Committee meets on an as-needed basis, but regularly meets in November/December to work on the budget for the next year. All meetings are via telephone. Get the most out of your JAG membership by getting involved! PRODUCTION COMMITTEE: Lee Beckerman, Chair Production Committee met on February 8th. In attendance were North Brunswick, Oradell, East Brunswick and Piscataway. We held election for committee Chair and Lee Beckerman will be the new Chair. We are planning for the upcoming year which will include the Eastern Video Expo 2019, JAG Awards and the League of Municipalities. One of the biggest things we need from membership are videos for the League of Municipalities display booth. Last year we received only two. This year we plan to use videos submitted to the JAG Awards context. If you wish to submit anything reach out to the committee. We are always looking for more members. Membership is open to anyone in your station, so let them know. AD HOC COMMITTEES Legislation Committee: Dave Garb, Chair New Members Are Always Welcomed The Legislative Committee has recently met for the first time this year. A few of the main topics we are going to be keeping an eye on is the FCC s - proposal to revise the definition of franchise fees and a court proceeding to address whether the requirement imposed to set aside public access channels in the first place violates First Amendment rights. Many other issues affecting community television is creeping up on us, Including Closed Captioning. No it hasn t gone away! More will be discussed in upcoming JAG meetings Your eyes, hears and contacts will be greatly needed in keeping up with these matters. If interested, please contact me at David Garb davegarb@paps.net. or call x Page 5

6 COMMITTEES CORNER Membership Committee: Darryl Love and Bruce Goldsmith (Co-Chairs) No report provided Conference Committee: Stephanie Gibbons & Cindy Hahn, Co-Chairs The Conference Committee continues planning for the 2019 Eastern Video Expo, May 23rd and 24th, at the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick. We are very pleased to be partnering this year with the FM Valenti Road Show to offer a fabulous trade show floor. Admission to the Trade Show is free with advance registration, and very affordable workshop and meal packages are available. The conference committee is beginning to finalize specific workshop topics to help attendees adapt to new technology, stay informed on legislative issues, use social media to their advantage, and hone their creative skills. Workshop topics are expected to be announced next month. The committee is also working on planning a social for JAG members on the Wednesday night before the Expo, as well as the always popular Thursday night banquet! Registration is now open and early bird pricing is currently available! Register now to receive early bird discounts and visit for more information. Special Promo Codes are available for JAG members by contacting Linda Besink at lbesink@gmail.com or calling (201) And be sure to Like us on Facebook ( ) and Follow us on Twitter (@EasternVideoExp) to get the latest news as plans for the Expo continue to develop. We look forward to seeing you there! JAG Video Awards Committee: Bob Duthaler, Chair The committee has gone through the entry categories, reviewed and updated them to match the needs and productions of our members. We have also tried to simply the category descriptions and gave brief explanations were needed to the types of programs to submit. The rules have been updated to match the changes and time for entry in to the JAG Awards. The committee is very excited about this years event. The JAG Awards committee is also working on bringing in partner judges from outside sources familiar with community and local access television, giving fresh eyes to our content of entries and getting a fresh perspective on all our work. Finally, the JAG Awards committee is excited to announce the the JAG Awards will be given out during the Eastern Video Conference and JAG Banquet the night of Thursday, May 23rd! Announcement for the opening of the JAG Awards will be made at the next JAG Meeting on Wednesday, February 27th in Princeton. Start going through your work from 2018 and select your best to be a part of the best awards contest and show for local access in our area! Contact Bob at bduthaler@jagonline.org Jersey Access Group, PO Box 164, Metuchen, New Jersey info@jagonline.org New Jersey Chapter of NATOA and New Jersey League of Municipalities Affiliate Editor: Rich Desimone, Managing Director, Staff: Page Cindy 6 Hahn, Stephanie Gibbons --Marketing Committee